Amarica's Constitution

80 Years in 80 Minutes - A Special Live Episode

Amarica’s Constitution takes to the road, as the Yale Club of the Palm Beaches, Florida, hosts us with a live audience of constitutional aficionados!  The long-delayed book tour of “The Words That Made Us” finally assumes a recognizable form, as Akhil gives a whirlwind tour of the first 80 years of America’s Constitutional Conversation.  Aside from a sense of the book, you should come away from this episode knowing 20-30 things you either didn’t know, or wrongly understood before.  The audience then questions Professor Amar from founding to Trump - literally, as no holds are barred.

The Year That Was, and Your Questions

Amarica’s Constitution celebrates one year of podcasting, and what a year it was.  From the steps of the Capitol to the bench of the Court, we were there with coverage and analysis. In this episode we replay clips from, among others, Bob Woodward, Philip Bobbitt, and Neal Katyal, as they discussed and debated everything from impeachment to abortion with Akhil and Andy.  And, as long promised, your questions submitted throughout the year are answered!

Roberts Court, or Trump Court? A Conversation with Linda Greenhouse

The Supreme Court is still in the news, with vaccine mandate follies and more, and we continue to be there to help you decipher it.  This week, our timing is perfect: the long-time, Pulitzer-winning NY Times correspondent, now columnist, Linda Greenhouse, joins us for a discussion of the Court and her new book: “Justice on the Brink: The Death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the Rise of Amy Coney Barrett, and Twelve Months that Transformed the Supreme Court.”  In light of Justice Breyer’s retirement issues (and how RBG’s retirement echoes loudly), the current torrent of impactful cases, and our recent commentary and other guests, this couldn’t be more timely.  Linda’s book prepares us to ask if the Roberts Court is gone and the Trump Court arrived - and now we can begin to answer the question, as the Court slowly unveils its character.   Best of all, you can find out what all this has to do with an iguana.

The Court Astonishes - Special Guest Ed Whelan

Amarica’s Constitution is 50 - 50 episodes, that is.  The Supreme Court isn’t done with abortion yet, as it marks our “silver episode” unveiling with a pair of rulings on the Texas abortion law, SB8.  The rulings themselves may not be long remembered, but the opinions contained sentences that shocked Professor Amar.  In a happy coincidence, the Friday rulings coincided with a Friday taping, and we happened to have a special guest - Ed Whelan, creator of the well-known “Bench Memos” legal blog and Distinguished Senior Fellow of the Ethics and Public Policy Center.  We dissect the very revealing statements by Chief Justice Roberts, Justice Sotomayor, and others, on an eventful day.

Roe Roe Roe: Stare and Stenchy

The oral argument is complete in the Mississippi abortion case, Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health. In our previous two episodes, Professor Amar prepared our audience with a remarkable menu of constitutional theory, a recap of the relevant cases and the orientation of the justices.  We now look at the actual argument and find where it cohered with Akhil’s notions.  We critique the arguments, the advocates, and the arbiters, and discuss arguments that might have been made.  Was precedent ("Stare Decisis") the theme, and did it have to be?  The voices of the justices, inserted in our podcast, put you right there, with Professor Amar as your guide.

The Future of the Past

Fifty years of controversial jurisprudence have followed Roe v. Wade, and now the Supreme Court will hear oral argument in a case that many see as this story’s reckoning: Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.  In our last episode Professor Amar identified “precedent” as the legal coordinates where the abortion road may fork.  He now lays out the conflicting theories of precedent which the informed citizen needs to command when following this case. i Listeners to this episode will be armed with the tools to decipher today’s oral argument and tomorrow’s decision/opinion; indeed, in the briefs attached to this week’s “Show Notes,” both sides make arguments that will sound familiar to listeners to this podcast.  One can only hope that the Justices are as informed as Amarica’s Constitution’s audience.

About Abortion - A Precedent Primer

Abortion, and Roe v. Wade, is in the news again as the Supreme Court prepares to review challenges to the Mississippi law which, if upheld, would amount to an overrule of Roe.  Professor Amar tells us that the argument, in addition to discussions of abortion itself, will center on the role of precedent.  To prepare us for an examination of the particulars of this case, he conducts a master class on precedent.  Akhil has written extensively and authoritatively on this over the years; our audience will thus be among the most informed and comprehending spectators when oral argument takes place in December.  We will follow this next week, as we did in the recent gun case, by applying the principles just covered to the actual case.

To Heller and Back

Now that our audience are masters of rights analysis after last week’s overview and framework presentation, we turn to the current SCOTUS gun rights case, New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen. Consistent with Professor Amar’s approach, we begin with the text of the 2nd and 14th Amendments, along with a fascinating historical analysis.  When that is complete, the questions the Justices asked during oral argument take on a whole new meaning, both in seeing clearly the points they were emphasizing, and perhaps in some cases, those they were missing.  

Putting a Head to Our Gun

Gun rights are in the news again as the Supreme Court hears New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen.  Professor Amar discusses his landmark work on the Bill of Rights, and invites you to join him in an analysis of the issues in this and other “rights” cases.  These cases require an appropriate methodology, and we are treated to a master class in the tools we need to perform this analysis.  As we jump into the case, we will be armed with the framework we need for 2nd amendment cases, 14th amendment cases, and indeed most of the landmark cases that have come before the court over the past half-century, and will be before us, and the Court, now and in the near future.

The Opening Episode

Our series on books and authoring takes a look back at - what else?  - the opening of a book.  What comes first can make all the difference, but what makes for a great opening?  And there are things before the opening - the forward, the preface, the dedication, the title, the cover.  It’s all grist for our mill, with classic openings as well as deep dives into Akhil’s own books’ kickoffs.